We've decided to extend our house and in line with that we're going to change our CH Boiler (relocated from behind gas fire to kitchen), install a new bathroom suite/toilet, retile and relocate the internal soil pipe outside the house.
We've had a quote for just over 3K for the purchase of the new boiler, upgradeHot water tank, etc coming in at a bit over 3K.
The first bathroom/toilet quote we had (we would supply all bathroom/toilet fittings & tiles) was just over 3K (but not including relocation of the soil pipe, but including wall replastering).
We've had a second bathroom/toilet/soil pipe relocation quote coming in at over 7K.
I naively thought the quotes would be way under this (the bathroom is small, a square with one side=length of the bath!).
I've never tackled tiling or bathroom suite fitment, but at these kinds of rates I could take out two months and do it myself (we'd pong a bit mind you)!
We've yet to get quotes for the main two-storey extension, garden wall or double garage.
Maybe I should retrain as a builder (I work in IT - we had a structural engineer round together with a guy with a spade. In two hours on a Saturday morning, the man with the spade dug two holes to foundation depth and then filled them in, earning more than I would in 7 hours as an IT freelance)?
Anybody ever got involved in doing this kind of work themselves - perhaps working as a builders mate to get the costs down? Are there good reliable affordable builders around Bracknell? Should I advertise outside the expensive South to get the costs down?
For all those doing DIY, as far as I can tell you're saving a fortune!
Paul (If only I were my father - who built his own garage!)